Hopefully maybe there's a chance we'll get to visit set pieces.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Like while you think M-Dragonite is perfect and M-Sableye is lacking, personally I feel the opposite. I've gave enough reasons why I feel M-Dragonite's design doesn't feel quite right to me. Meanwhile M-Sableye is I feel a simple design done right. While maybe some would have preferred it to become a more bulky body with gem-like spiky growth/armor and gem-encrusted claws & teeth, M-Sableye takes the base Sableye design and emphasizes/exaggerates its features. Base's most notable trait is its gem eyes, so they thought what else they could do with that and remembered the small red gem on its chest; "what if that grew into a giant gem it uses as a shield", and so it keeps the gem-forward design but puts a twist on it. And with that to work around they simply then added onto its base model; made its gem eyes a striking red like the gem so it's still a notable part of the design, top of the head gets additional spike, ears become a bit spikier, golden teeth made visible, claws and arm scruff sharper, and its back now has a cluster of gems. The basis behind M-Dragonite's design is good, I just don't feel they fully realized it; worst I feel the reason is because of avoiding fan artists designs.
Also, let's not forget Sableye is no Dragonite. I don't know why they picked Sableye, but even with a +100 to its stats it was never going to become a phenomenal Pokemon. What they did with M-Sableye's design not only emphasized its traits but gave it some kind of niche it could fill as a slow wall with Magic Bounce (it's one of the Mega Pokemon who gets knee-capped if you remove its Ability). And even with that niche, with you only having one Mega, it obviously was never going to get picked for a competitive team as Mega usually became more offense focused. M-Sableye exists for those who think using Sableye would be fun (or wanted to) but it was never really able to carry its weight; but now it can... in theory. Honestly what more defensive Mega Pokemon like M-Sableye need is being in a game like Colosseum which is doubles-focused and there's a reason you may stall a battle (Wes probably would have had an easier time with catching the Legendary Beasts if he had a M-Sableye soaking up hits and reflecting status ailments). Even if they give M-Dragonite a meh Ability it's going to be a powerhouse no matter what, no doubt also speedier.
Also note that is likely just a vocal minority. Like, how many Nintendo Directs and Pokemon Presents have we had, plenty which were just small updates with no major news (or what could be a major news isn't really gone into that much?); I think most people at this point do go into these not expecting much. But there are some, some who I feel have reaction Youtube/Twitch channels (though the ones I watch don't act like this so

), who want big news to react to and when there isn't any they now have to be dramatic there was "nothing shown".
If there was any other factor that made some people believe there may have been more, it could have been the fact the Switch 2 is out and the Donkey Kong Bananza's Direct before its release was jam-packed with stuff that got people excited for the game. People are wondering what GF has cooking for specifically the Switch 2 and with LZA soon are hungry for info on it. However GF as of late are keeping their cards close to their chest, not just in game development news but also what they tell about the next Pokemon games as they realize a big surprise factor about Pokemon games are people discovering new Pokemon by encountering them in-game rather then through a news announcement. So could have just come to bad timing after some notable events & Direct(s) from Nintendo.
No Items. OUs only. Not graphic heavy battlefield.
We also went over how in that battle there may have been something that prevented Trace for activating (notably M-Alakazam was battling a Gardevoir, a Pokemon which could also have Trace; Or Normal Pokemon don't have something akin to Abilities while Mega will so its Trace will only activate against a Mega to give it an advantage).
And, yeah, we saw how some Mega Pokemon were weakened without their Abilities. The point there was we had hoped they had learned from that experience.
I highly doubt, from what we've been told about it via the website, it's going to suddenly shift into a defensive Pokemon or start leaning Special (Attack). Honestly the only question about its stats is how much is going to go into its Attack (will it be a moderate increase to 150-160 or a dramatic push to 170+) and whether they'd want to more bulk its defenses or make it speedier (and how much are they going to "throw away" in its Special Attack stat).
And also note, though Abilities may not play a part in LZA (unless Mega Pokemon are just given additional effects similar to their Abilities, like through their Mega Stones which they apparently can hold?), but that doesn't mean the one they planned for it didn't have an effect on its design or lore.
(Single) Mega Reveal: Now that they revealed there are new Mega Pokemon there's a chance they could reveal more before its release. Could be a good way to keep excitement about the game without having to do a Pokemon Presents if they hype up a new Mega reveal on their Twitter every few weeks starting now. And they still haven't revealed whether there are Regional Variants yet, so yet another potential way to keep peoples eyes glued to the game without a Presents.
NPC Partner Pokemon: I think they may be hinting Lida's style of dancing is breakdancing which I could see a Staryu's rapid spinning style fitting. Naveen wants to be a fashion designer, Scraggy is a Pokemon that looks like its wearing clothes, 'nuff said (BTW, how have people pointed out Lida is likely Tierno's sister yet not one the more obvious Naveen likely being Grant's younger brother? Are you telling me people remembered Tierno more over Grant?).
Ah, so that's probably explains his name, cause I was wondering if it was going to be revealed he had like a Poison-type Honchkrow Regional Variant or something (for those who don't know, his Japanese name is "Karasuba" which translates to "crow wings" and his English name is just the French word for "crow").
I don't mind if a character has fancier clothes, that's something logical. But I am getting a bit dissonance from all the unique haircuts, like now every Type Specialist has to have a hairstyle that references their Type.